Actian PSQL v11 Product Info

As the largest Pervasive reseller in the US, we have stocked up on this product line and still have some licenses available for our customers, as indicated below. When stock is exhausted, upgrading to PSQLv12 or newer may be the only option for some users.

In 2013, Pervasive Software was purchased by Actian Corporation, and they subsequently changed the name from Pervasive PSQL v11 to Actian PSQL v11. Like Pervasive PSQL v10, PSQL v11 is available for Windows and Linux in both 32-bit and 64-bit levels. However, PSQL v11 does offer some VERY useful new features over PSQL v10 and earlier, including the following:

What's New In PSQL v11?

Here is a list of the most important new features in this release:

New Operating Systems: The SP3 release has been certified by Microsoft for Windows Server 2012. Further, it has been tested and is supported by Actian on Windows 8 as well (though not on Windows RT, used by the Microsoft Surface tablet.)

Multi-Core Support: Improved multi-threading allows for much faster response on multi-core equipment with a large number of users hitting the database simultaneously. This is a huge gain for those "workhorse" servers! Why is this important? Check out the Forbes Multi-Core paper for more information.

Full 64-bit Support: Whereas the PSQLv10 64-bit engine had only 64-bit Btrieve engine (MKDE), this release now brings the SQL engine into the x64 world, again allowing for substantial improvements in memory resource allocation and performance. No more 2GB memory space limit!

IPv6 Support: As many organizations are evaluating a move to IPv6, the PSQLv11 database engine is already ready to support you!

Telephone Activation: It is now possible to activate your license over the phone when you do not have Internet access from your server, instead of having to use the cumbersome "offline activation" process.

Developer-Level Updates: Software developers can now leverage the ADO.NET Provider Support for .NET Entity Framework and PDAC for RAD Studio 2010, Delphi RAD Studio XE2, and XE3 (32-bit only) environments. There is also a new ADO.NET Data Provider v4.0 and 4.1 (and v3.2 is now deprecated).

Windows 2008 R2 Certification: This release will be Microsoft-certified for Windows 2008 R2.

Performance Monitor Counters: New performance counters are integrated into the Windows environment to provide more information about the running state of the engine, include cache accesses, latency, operation counts, and other important data not currently provided in the Monitor.

New SQL Features: New virtual tables provide access to the system catalog (dictionary) from SELECT statements. This is in addition to the system stored procedures. SQL queries can now include ORDER BY in a subquery -- very handy for finding the TOP entry in a subquery! The CREATE INDEX statement has also been expanded to create specific index numbers, which can be useful in fixing DDF problems.

License and Logging Enhancements: A new grace period will be implemented for when licenses get disabled, in addition to a notification tray for critical problems. Important logging issues will also be logged into the operating system Application log. Get more information about these changes here.

Backup Solutions: Both the Backup Agent and VSS Writer are now included at no additional charge with the Server Engine. If your backup software uses Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS), then the VSS Writer will work automatically. Otherwise, you can install the Backup Agent and use that solution instead. If you are running a Workgroup Engine, the Backup Agent is still available for an additional cost.

Licensing Changes: SP2 licenses are now bit- and platform-agnostic. This means that you can install either 32-bit or 64-bit with the SAME license. You can switch from Windows to Linux as well. (Users with an older , platform-specific, license key can exchange an existing key for a new one by contacting Actian.)

Updated Tools: The Monitor utility has been updated to show session and data-in-use metrics, which is handy if you are contemplating a move to Actian PSQL Vx Server. A new Monitor is also available within the PCC, which offers some room for expansion. The Query Plan Viewer has also been improved in several areas, making it easier to use and understand.

Licensing Changes: SP3 licenses will be afforded 30 reactivations (up from 10). Even better, licenses that are in the "Failed Validatation" state can be fixed by the end user directly, without Actian intervention! This can be done up to 5 times.

NO Windows 10 Support: On June 15, 2015, Actian announced that they had NO plans to support PSQL v11 on Windows 10.

Want more details? Get Actian's formal Product Comparison Guide to see what features you might be missing if you are still running PSQLV8, PSQLv9, or PSQLv10. If you're not sure if you want the Workgroup Engine or the Server Engine, check out this comparison chart.

Actian PSQL v11 Application Support

It is up to application vendors to announce support for PSQL v11 with their products. For those that have told us if they support v11, you will find that noted on our Application Support pages. Otherwise, please contact the vendor for more information.

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[+] Actian PSQL v11.30 (SP3)...

PSQL v11 Service Pack 3 was released January 17, 2013, and the name was formally changed to Actian PSQL in August, 2013. This service pack includes everything in SP1 and SP2, with the following improvements:

New Operating Systems: The SP3 release has been certified by Microsoft for Windows Server 2012. Further, it has been tested and is supported by Actian on Windows 8 as well (though not on Windows RT, used by the Microsoft Surface tablet.)

Licensing Changes: SP3 licenses will be afforded 30 reactivations (up from 10). Even better, licenses that are in the "Failed Validatation" state can be fixed by the end user directly, without Actian intervention! This can be done up to 5 times.

Updated Monitor: A new "integrated" Monitor utility has been added to the PCC, with a completely revamped user interface.

New SQL Features: SQL queries can now include ORDER BY in a subquery -- very handy for finding the TOP entry in a subquery! The CREATE INDEX statement has also been expanded to create specific index numbers, which can be useful in fixing DDF problems.

New SDK Features: The PDAC has been improved to support developers using Delphi RAD Studio XE3 (32-bit only). There is also a new ADO.NET Data Provider v4 available (and v3.2 is now deprecated).

This is a free patch upgrade to previous versions of PSQLv11. Users of PSQLv10 and earlier can purchase a paid upgrade at a discount. If you are running the any older release, then we strongly recommend upgrading to the latest patches, if possible.

Released on March 30, 2012, the SP2 (Service Pack 2) product build offers some important new features to users of PSQLv11.
This release includes the following features:

Backup Solutions: Both the Backup Agent and VSS Writer are now included at no additional charge with the Server Engine. If your backup software uses Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS), then the VSS Writer will work for you automatically. Otherwise, you can install the Backup Agent and use that backup solution instead. If you are running a Workgroup Engine, this backup capability is available for an additional cost.

Licensing Changes: SP2 licenses are now bit- and platform-agnostic. This means that you can install either 32-bit or 64-bit with the SAME license. You can switch from Windows to Linux as well. (Users with an older , platform-specific, license key can exchange an existing key for a new one by contacting Actian directly.)

Updated Monitor: The Monitor utility has been updated to show session and data-in-use metrics, which is handy if you are contemplating a move to Actian PSQL Vx Server.

Updated Query Plan Viewer: This tool, quite useful for SQL query optimization, has been improved in several areas, making it easier to use and understand.

Delphi RAD Studio XE2 Support: The PDAC has been improved to support developers using Delphi RAD Studio XE2 (32-bit only).

This is a free patch upgrade to previous versions of PSQLv11. Users of PSQLv10 and earlier can purchase a paid upgrade at a discount. If you are running the v11.00 code (FCS) or v11.10 (SP1), then we strongly recommend upgrading to the latest patches, if possible.

Released on July 14, 2011, the SP1 (Service Pack 1) product build offers a some important new features to users of PSQLv11.
This release includes the following features:

Windows 2008 R2 Certification: This release will be Microsoft-certified for Windows 2008 R2.

64-Bit Support Enhanced: This includes a new 64-bit ODBC drivers for Linux, 64-bit DTO and .Net support, and RedHat 6 support on a pure x64 operating system.

Performance Counters: New performance counters are integrated into the Windows environment to provide more information about the running state of the engine, include cache accesses, latency, operation counts, and other important data not currently provided in the Monitor.

SQL System Catalog: New virtual tables provide access to the system catalog (dictionary) from SELECT statements. This is in addition to the stored procedures.

License and Logging Enhancements: A new grace period will be implemented for when licenses get disabled, in addition to a notification tray for critical problems. Important logging issues will also be logged into the operating system Application log.

This is a free patch upgrade to previous versions of PSQLv11. Users of PSQLv10 and earlier can purchase a paid upgrade at a discount.
If you are running the v11.00 code (FCS), then we strongly recommend upgrading to the latest patches, if possible.

Released on September 22, 2010, the FCS (First Customer Ship) product build offers a lot of new features to users of older PSQL versions.
This release includes the following features:

Multi-Core Support: Improved multi-threading allows for much faster response on multi-core equipment with a large number of users hitting the database simultaneously. This is a huge gain for those "workhorse" servers!

64-bit SQL Engine: Whereas the PSQLv10 64-bit engine had only 64-bit Btrieve engine (MKDE), this release now brings the SQL engine into the x64 world, again allowing for substantial improvements in memory resources and performance.

64-bit ODBC Driver: The 64-bit ODBC driver will ease the integration with other 64-bit databases, such as SQL Server.

IPv6 Support: The new client and engine can now handle direct connections via IPv6 instead of relying on IPv4 mapping.

Telephone Activation: If you do not have Internet access on your server, you can now activate your license via phone during Actian's business hours.

This is a paid upgrade to previous versions (PSQLv10 and earlier).
If you are running the v11.00 code (FCS), then we strongly recommend upgrading to the latest patches, if possible.

Q: My vendor doesn't support the new version yet. What can I do?
A: You can still purchase Pervasive PSQL v10, which will be supported for at least 18 months after the release of Actian PSQL v11. Then, you can choose to upgrade the engine later on, if needed. To help prod those developers developers taking their sweet time in testing the new version, Pervasive Software increased the price of the PSQLv10 licenses by 25% and discontinued product upgrade discounts to PSQLv10 from versions older than PSQLV8.

Q: Is Actian PSQL v11 backward compatible with my older applications?
A: Officially, 16-bit applications are no longer supported. You may be able to get around this by using our special Requester Patch Pack (scroll all the way down).

Q: If my application worked on PSQLv10, will it work on v11?
A: It is always a good idea to test your own applications. The new features can easily be ignored by older applications. One noted issue may result in the reduced support for page sizes, since fewer page sizes are now supported (1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, and 16K). Older apps should be transparent to the page size changes, but we've seen at least ONE application that can be sensitive to these changes. Also, older applications that do a BUTIL -STAT operation on tables may experience some problems with files over 119 key segments -- so be careful.

Q: Are all of the Ecosystem products (AuditMaster, DataExchange, Backup Agent) supported on Actian PSQL v11?
A: Not all versions are supported. See our Ecosystem pages for Backup Agent, AuditMaster, and DataExchange for details on compatibility for each product.

Q: I'm running a small site on a server running Windows XP, but the Actian support matrix shows that XP is not supported for the Server Engine. Is this correct?
A: Yes. Officially, the Version 11 Server component is not supported on the Windows XP platform. This is because the Microsoft EULA states an end-user-type machine cannot run server-type software in an XP environment. Additionally, the Windows XP environment might limit the amount of connections to the XP machine running as a Server. We do, however, have customers that run v10 Server successfully in the XP environment with no known issues. If you were to use this setup, only the Actian portion would be supported. If there was ever an issue between the XP Operating System and PSQL, it would not be supported by Actian.

Q: Is Actian PSQL v11 supported on Windows Vista and Windows 7?
A: Yes! PSQLv11 will run on these operating systems.

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If you have additional questions about the product, please contact us!